DreamWorks Animation
DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. ( ) is an American animation studio which primarily produce a series of commercially successful computer-animated films, including Shrek, Shark Tale, Madagascar, Over the Hedge, Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda, Monsters vs. Aliens, How to Train Your Dragon, and Megamind. Although the studio also made traditionally animated films about serious subjects earlier, such as The Prince of Egypt, Joseph: King of Dreams, The Road to El Dorado, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, and Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, most of their computer-generated films and television series have now gained the studio a reputation for being focused on popular culture and satire although they also relied into CGI films and series with more philosophical issues such as the aforementioned Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. The studio was formed by the merger of the feature animation division of DreamWorks and Pacific Data Images (PDI). Originally formed under the banner of DreamWorks in 1997 by some of Amblin Entertainment's former animation branch Amblimation alumni, it was spun off into a separate public company in 2004. Films produced by DreamWorks Animation are currently distributed worldwide by Paramount Pictures, a subsidiary of Viacom, who acquired the DreamWorks live-action studio in February 2006, spinning it off again in 2008. DreamWorks Animation currently maintains two campuses: the original DreamWorks feature animation studio in Glendale, California and the PDI studio in Redwood City, California. On August 21, 2012, DreamWorks Animation has sign distribution deal for 20th Century Fox. History 1994–2003 On October 12, 1994, DreamWorks SKG was formed and founded by a trio of entertainment players, director and producer Steven Spielberg, music executive David Geffen, and former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg. DreamWorks signed a co-production deal with Pacific Data Images to form subsidiary PDI, LLC (PDI owned 60% of PDI, LLC while DreamWorks SKG owned 40%). Pacific Data Images was founded by Carl Rosendahl in 1980 with a small loan from his father. In 1982, he was joined by Richard Chuang and Glenn Entis, who wrote the foundation of the in-house computer animation software that was to be used for the next two decades. During the 1980s, PDI created many animated logos and commercials for television for companies like NBC and Sky Movies. They shifted into motion picture visual effects beginning in 1991 with a contribution to Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The new unit would produce computer-generated feature films beginning with Antz in 1998. In the same year DreamWorks SKG produced The Prince of Egypt, which used both CG technology and traditional animation techniques. In 2000, DreamWorks SKG created a new business division, DreamWorks Animation, that would regularly produce both types of animated feature films. All four traditionally animated feature films were produced by the division's Southern California branch. DreamWorks SKG acquired majority interest (90%) in PDI, reforming it into PDI/DreamWorks, the Northern California branch of its new business division. In 2001, DWA released Shrek that made DreamWorks win their first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. The business division separated from its parent in 2004, forming DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. and purchasing the remaining interest in PDI as well as its subsidiary PDI, LLC. 2004–2009 From 2004 to 2009, the studio was dedicated solely to producing computer-animated films in-house, and committed itself to produce 2 such films a year. In 2005, DreamWorks Animation partnered with HP to introduce HP Halo Telepresence Solutions, technologies that allow people in different locations to communicate in a face-to-face environment in real time. DreamWorks Animation has used this technology in the production of several animated films including the Shrek films, Kung-Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. DreamWorks Animation also had a partnership with Aardman Animations, a stop-motion animation company from Bristol, England. This partnership had DreamWorks participating in the production of stop-motion films in Bristol, and also had Aardman participating in some of the CG films made in the US. This partnership ended after the release of Flushed Away in November 2006; the announcement was made before the film's release, on October 3, citing "creative differences" as the reason. The logo is adapted from its parent studio's logo. The original logo (debuting with Shrek 2 and ending with Monsters vs. Aliens) consisted of a boy fishing on the moon, against a backdrop of the daytime sky albeit with more colourful lettering. The soundtrack of this logo was originally an adaptation of the DreamWorks theme; however, following on the global success of Shrek in 2001, this became a shortened adaptation of True Love's First Kiss (the Love Theme from the Shrek soundtrack), composed by John Powell (itself adapted from "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen). On March 3, 2007, DreamWorks Animation announced intention to release every future film in 3-D, starting in 2009. On July 8, 2008, they have announced partnership with Intel to co-develop 3-D film-making technology InTru3D. The first film produced with this technology was Monsters vs. Aliens. In 2009, the studio made the list of Fortune Magazine's best 100 companies to work for, at number 47. Employees at DreamWorks get to enjoy breakfast and lunch for free, a perk not found at many other companies. 2010–present From 2010 to 2012, the studio is planning to release five feature films every two years. With 2010, DWA became the first studio that released three CG-animated films in a year. In 2011, the studio revisited their plans, "But beyond 2012, Katzenberg said the studio will play it by ear, even if that means abandoning his proclamation that DWA would try to release three pictures in a single year, every other year." In 2010, a new logo was introduced in which the boy on the moon whips away some of the clouds with his fishing line as the DreamWorks letters come into position; this logo was first used on How to Train Your Dragon. If you look close you can also see the silhouette of a dragon flying from right of screen to left, blocking out the stars. In 2010, the studio's most successful franchise Shrek, concluded with the fourth and final installment Shrek Forever After. In 2010 DreamWorks Animation ranked number 6 on the Forbes 100 Best Companies to Work For list. It is praised by its employees for its openness and culture of collaboration. On June 4, 2010, DreamWorks Animation and Royal Caribbean announced a strategic alliance set to take place onboard Royal Caribbean cruise ships including Allure of the Seas. Dreamworks Animation also created a new division, MoonBoy Animation, it's first show is TBS's Neighbors from Hell. In July of 2012, DreamWorks Animation acquires to Classic Media such as Where's Waldo?, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, Lassie, Underdog, VeggieTales, Gumby and other cartoon characters Dreamworks and Classic Media has renaming "DreamWorks Classics" In August 2012, DreamWorks Animation signs a 5-year distribution deal for 20th Century Fox starting in 2013. such as'' The Croods, ''Turbo, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, Me and My Shadow, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and other animated DreamWorks movies. Partnerships DreamWorks Animation has an on-going partnership with HP, and the studio exclusively uses HP workstations and servers. In 2005, AMD signed a 3 year deal to provide processors to the studio. This relationship ended in 2008, and DreamWorks announced that they will use Intel processors for future productions. Board of directors The following executivesDreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. Board of Directors – BusinessWeek are on the DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. Board of Directors: *Roger Enrico, Chairman of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. *Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc./Co-Founder of DreamWorks. *Lew Coleman, President of DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. *Mellody Hobson, President of Ariel Capital Management *Nathan Myhrvold, Chief Executive Officer of Intellectual Ventures *Richard Sherman, CEO of The David Geffen Company *Karl von der Heyden, retired Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer of Pepsico, Inc. *Judson Green, President and Chief Executive Officer of NAVTEQ *Michael Montgomery, President of Montgomery & Co. *Thomas E. Freston, former CEO of Viacom *Harry (Skip) Brittenham, Director Productions Feature films Upcoming films Films in development *''Pig Scrolls'' *''InterWorld'' *''Dinotrux '' *''Gil's All Fright Diner'' *''Truckers'' *''Imaginary Enemies'' *''Trollhunters'' *''Alma'' *''Maintenance'' *''Lidsville'' *''Flawed Dogs'' *''Rumblewick'' *''The Grimm Legacy'' *''Captain Underpants'' Direct-to-video *''Joseph: King of Dreams'' (2000) *''The Penguins of Madagascar: Operation: DVD Premiere'' (2010) *''The Penguins of Madagascar: Happy King Julien Day!'' (2010) *''The Penguins of Madagascar: New to the Zoo'' (2010) *''The Penguins of Madagascar: I Was a Penguin Zombie'' (2010) TV specials Short films Television series Additionally, DreamWorks Animation holds the underlying US rights to the DiC animated series Alienators: Evolution Continues, co-produced with the parent DreamWorks studio and Columbia TriStar Television (now Sony Pictures Television, who holds international rights). The series was a spin-off of the 2001 DreamWorks/Columbia film Evolution. The same also applies to Neighbors From Hell, since the show is co-produced by Dreamworks Animation (under their newly established MoonBoy Animation division), an independent company known as Bento Box Entertainment, and 20th Century Fox Television. See also * DreamWorks Studios * Pacific Data Images * Aardman Animations References Category:American animation studios Category:Film production companies of the United States Category:Companies based in Los Angeles County, California Category:Companies established in 2000 Category:DreamWorks Animation